Lights-out pitching gets Bulldogs going

TRACY - For the first three innings, Tracy pitcher Tayler Misfeldt and catcher Sabrina George played catch - nine Chavez batters up, nine retired by strikeout.

Dave Campbell

TRACY - For the first three innings, Tracy pitcher Tayler Misfeldt and catcher Sabrina George played catch - nine Chavez batters up, nine retired by strikeout.

Chavez did end up with one run but was no match for the Bulldogs, as Tracy rolled to an 11-1 mercy-rule-shortened win in a San Joaquin Athletic Association softball game Thursday at the Tracy Softball Complex.

Misfeldt allowed one hit in the six-inning contest, striking out 13 of the 18 batters she faced.

Said Misfeldt when asked if she had ever struck out the first nine batters in a game: "I don't think so. It seems like with each game I gain a little more confidence as I set more goals for myself.

"My ultimate goal is for us to win a section championship, and I try and get more and more strikeouts each game. I try and focus while I am in a zone."

Misfeldt's prowess from inside the circle was not the only first for the Bulldogs (10-2, 4-0 SJAA). Sophomore Sonia Reddy legged out an inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning, her first in high school. "I thought I had it part way between second and third," Reddy said. "It felt good off the bat, nice and easy."

Tracy coach Greg Smith was not surprised by his pitcher.

"She pitched like that against Lincoln," Smith said of Misfeldt's 16-strikeout, no-hit outing in the Bulldogs' 12-0 defeat of Lincoln on Tuesday. "She is getting stronger every time she pitches."

Tracy racked up 13 hits, including six for extra bases.

"We are swinging the bat really well," Smith said. "In practice we focus on getting a lot of swings in, even if it is just soft toss. They have been focused."

Madison Ledda was 2 for 2 with a triple and two RBI for the Bulldogs, with Jazmin Clark, Peyton Davis and Mikayla Coelho each getting an RBI and a double. Rebecca DelaRosa was 3 for 4 with an RBI.

Laurenne Sanchez was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth inning for Chavez (6-6, 0-4) and scored on Victoria Forrester's groundout. Sanchez logged the lone Titans hit with a double in the sixth inning.